LUSAKA – Zambia has made a climb down on its initial plan to force citizens to get the COVID-19 vaccines.
The latest position comes after a series of backlash from its critics who called the move barbaric and a violation of individual rights on freedom of choice.
“Earlier today (Wednesday) we clarified Government’s position on the “Mandatory Vaccination” debate that ensued across the country as we gave the COVID-19 current update,” the country’s Health minister Sylvia Masebo said.
“We stated, in clear terms, that the Government is not compelling anyone to get vaccinated against their will. Citizens have every right to choose whether to get the dose or not.
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“We are not here to take the rights of citizens away but we have a collective responsibility as your Government to safeguard your lives and one such way is through vaccinations, more reason for our push towards this program.
“We are elated, however, at the response from citizens across the country who have turned up in numbers to get vaccinated, this is very impressive.
“We wish to call on many others to respond to this clarion call for it is meant for the better good of all of us.
“We shall continue to engage various stakeholders and experts on this matter so as to get the best possible outcomes for our citizens.
“We also want to encourage you the citizens to engage into healthy debates, consult from experts and also advise us on how you think we should undertake certain decisions, we shall be all ears.
“Ours is to safeguard your lives and we shall indeed do our level best.”
